Occurrence of Ice-ice disease in seaweed Kappaphycus alvarezii at Gulf of Mannar and Palk Bay, Southeastern India

Present study compares the diversity of culturable bacteria isolated from healthy and ice-ice disease infected branches of K. alvarezii using different farming methods. Incidence and degree of infection varied significantly between time (months) during January - April 2014 and farm sites as revealed in the two way ANOVA, Pearson correlation and microbiological analysis. The occurrence of ice- ice disease in K. alvarezii has higher incidence and infection, as well as the farm exposed mostly during the time low tide and high temperature. The disease has affected the short term additional income generation to few fisher folks, however the loss of cultivation helps possibilities of restoring ecological balance of the region where the key coastal habitats such as coral reefs and seagrass beds and associated biodiversity were much affected due to the cultivation of K. alvarezii.